In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express, Director General of Society Of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Vishnu Mathur explains how old vehicles in the capital are disposed.

What infrastructure is in place at present to dispose old vehicles in the capital?

In Delhi, the current system of scrapping and disposal of old vehicles is not an organised one. The only existing options are the ones like the scrap market in Mayapuri, which is not environment-friendly. There are no government or private bodies to monitor and enforce scrapping of vehicles in an organised way.

Why don’t we have a policy for removal of ageing vehicles yet?

The government does not bring forth a policy because there is no infrastructure for large-scale scrapping of vehicles, while private bodies do not build or invest in developing infrastructure because there is no law or policy in place to allow scrapping. However, both Mahindra and the Kolkata-based Miniratna MSTC are coming up with a major scrapping infrastructure project. So there is some traction in this sector right now.

What happens when a car is scrapped?

The metal is recycled to make steel. India’s steel industry currently imports around 10 million tonnes of steel scrap per year from abroad because of scarcity in the domestic market.